Full Answer
Should you remove the edge of a knife after heat treatment?
It’s best to leave approximately 20 percent of the steel to take off after the heat treatment. Edges can warp or crack when they are too thin going into the quench process. Leaving some material to take off after heat-treat makes the quench operation a lot safer for the blade.
What is a heat-treated knife?
As knifemakers, we can utilize the extreme forms that steel can be heat-treated to for our advantage. The best example of this is a blade that has been either selectively hardened or selectively tempered. Such a blade can have an extremely hard edge, yet withstand a 90-degree flex test.
Do you worry about the expense of materials for knifemaking?
It’s time for an adjustment to the thinking process if you worry about the expense of materials for knifemaking. Materials are free when you figure their cost into the sale price of your product; it’s your customer who buys the material.
Is 3 3/4 inch too short for a knife blade?
A blade that stretched 4 inches seemed a bit too long, but a similarly shaped blade at 3 3/4 inches was too short. Splitting the difference gave me a blade length of 3 7/8 inches and I was comfortable with that size.
How thick should Edge be before heat treat?
The following grind stock should be left on the edge of the blades: Air hard edge thickness: 0.015” minimum. Oil hard edge thickness: 0.030” minimum.
How thick should a knife edge be before sharpening?
Rule of thumb for general purpose chef's knives once finished: Thickness immediately behind the bevel 0.2mm; at 5mm from there 0.5mm; at 1cm 1mm.
How thick should a heat treat knife be?
Well-Known Member. . 030-. 040" thick before heat treat, this also helps to prevent the edge from warping and cracking, and leaves plenty of thickness to clean up.
How many times do you heat treat a knife?
This new martensite is then “untempered” and another tempering cycle is required so that the brittle martensite isn't in the final knife. Most steels need at least two tempering cycles with cooling to room temperature in between.
How thick should a knife blade be?
For the beginner, a blade thickness of no more than 1/8 inch is good because there is not as much material to grind off. The tendency today is to make hunting and utility knives out of 1/4-inch-thick steel.
How thick should a survival knife be?
A good general rule is about 3/16 - 1/4 of an inch thickness is the best for survival knives. A knife of that thickness will be extremely solid and able withstand the abuse of wood chopping, batoning and prying. You do not want a survival knife that has a lot of flex in the blade.
What is Peters Heat Treat?
Peters' Heat Treating provides services for the custom knife maker. Turnaround time is currently four weeks (from receipt of your order to when we return ship it). Christmas orders must be received prior to Thanksgiving in order to assure receipt prior to the Christmas holiday. We heat treat ALL grades of steel.
What happens if you heat treat steel twice?
The study also found that the ductile-brittle transition temperature was reduced in steel that had been twice tempered. The ductile-brittle transition temperature means the point at which a material goes from ductile, or able to bend and absorb impact, to brittle, or liable to break on impact.
Can you quench a blade multiple times?
1) You can quench a blade many times if you are referring to the full HT. Each time erases the hardness and hamon developed in the last quench. The grain gets finer each time,so there is some benefit to a triple quench. The pattern and hardness are the result of the final quench and the subsequent tempering.
What can go wrong during heat treatment?
MOST OF THE PROBLEMS in heat- treated parts are attributed to faulty heat- treatment practices (such as overheating and burning, and nonuniform heating and quench- ing), deficiency in the grade of steels used, part defect, improper grinding, and/or poor part design.
How thick should a knife blade be?
It will save you a lot of grinding time if you take time to find material of the proper size. For the beginner, a blade thickness of no more than 1/8 inch is good because there is not as much material to grind off. The tendency today is to make hunting and utility knives out of 1/4-inch-thick steel.
How fast does a Norton SG hoger remove steel?
A hard-wheel grinder works fine for shaping the profile, however, half-dull ceramic belts, like the Norton SG Hogger on a belt grinder, will remove steel at least four times faster.
What is a drop point knife?
The blade is known as a “dropped point.”. I call it a utility shape. If you look up “utility” in a dictionary, you’ll find something like, “the quality of being of practical use.”. The advantages of the drop-point blade are many when compared to the upturned point on some commercial and handmade knives.
What is martensite steel?
When heated to a certain point and cooled quickly, the steel becomes hard, brittle and full of stress; this is called the quench. This form of steel is known as “martensite.” Martensite, as it comes from the quenching process, is brittle, full of stress and unsuitable for a knife. Heating the martensite to a lower temperature will soften it somewhat, relieve the stress, and if the temperature was correct, the result will be a serviceable product. The low temperature treatment, usually between 375- 500 F, is called tempering, or drawing the temper.
Is it good to make mockups of knives?
For these reasons, it’s always good to make mock-ups of new designs. This gives you non-working models to hold in your hands, and that’s just one more step towards real knives of good designs. If you’re still learning how to make knives, this is a great book to show you the ropes. Click the cover.
Does a knife have a handle?
A modern knife is apt to have a plastic-based handle material. These materials are waterproof, strong and dependable. Sharpening will eventually wear out a blade, but of the countless elements that can attack natural handle materials, few, if any, will have an effect on Micarta®.
Is a project knife a good knife?
The design for the project knife is practical and simple from a construction standpoint. Although a simple knife, it’s also a good working knife. History is on our side because it was simple working knives that got meat from the hoof and into the kettle.
What is a forge knife?
The better the forge, the faster and more controllable this can be done. A forge is one of the key components of any knifemakers tool shop. It can be used to forge blades into shape, but most importantly, it can be used to anneal or harden knife blanks.
How to normalize steel?
Heat the steel up to a non-magnetic state and then let it air cool slowly without quenching. Usually, the blade is removed from the forge and allowed to air cool. Normalizing steel allows the structure of the steel to be reset resulting in a blade that, once heat treated, will hold a better edge.
How to fix a bend in a blade?
If the bend is more severe, it can often be corrected during the second tempering cycle by clamping the blade to a flat piece of steel. Insert steel spacers under both ends and then clamp the middle of the bowed-out section of the blade with a steel clamp.
How long does it take for acetone to boil?
It will immediately start to boil. Now place the stainless blade into the slurry for ten to twenty minutes.
What is plate quenching?
Plate Quenching. Plate, or air quenching, is used for stainless steel and other types of air hardening steels. Remove the hot blade form the heat- treating oven, and then as quickly and as safely possible, insert the blade between two aluminum plates. The plates can be solid or rectangular tubing.
How cold is dry ice?
For knifemakers on a budget, dry ice can also be used. Compared to the -321 degrees Fahrenheit of liquid nitrogen, dry ice is only -95 degrees Fahrenheit.
What happens when you quench a blade?
Oil Quenching. Quenching or cooling a blade causes the blades crystal structure to change rapidly from austenite, which is non-magnetic, into martensite. Martensite is a hard and very brittle state. If you were to drop a blank after it had been quenched, it very well might break.
